Guiding apparatus for webs



y 1, 1930- J. H. HAMILTON 1,769,687

GUIDING APPARATUS FOR WEB S Filed Nov. 10, 1928 VEI YTOR- ATTORNEY,

rammed July 1, 1930 UNITED STATES I JOHN HERBERT HAMILTOFI, HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS GUIDING APPARATUS non. WEBS Application filed November 10, 1928. Serial No. 318,499.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for guiding webs of material such as webs of cloth fabric and the like.

In the manufacture of cloth it is common practise to feed cloth in its fiat web form to various machines which operate on the cloth for certain purposes. It is necessary that the web being handled be held in a flat smooth condition and that its side edges be guided laterally of the direction of travel of the web so that the web enters the machine in proper alignment.

According to the principal object of this invention I provide an apparatus for guiding material in web form which is adapted to engage side edges of a traveling web for moving said web laterally of its direction of movement and thereby guiding it. This is acc'omplished according to the novel features of the 2 invention by the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and illustrated in the form at present preferred by means of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a web of material showing a guide of the invention at one side edge thereof.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view taken on the line-2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end elevational view of the guide taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings the invention will be described in detail.

In Fig. 1 a portion of a web of material W such as cloth or the like is shown and to facili tate a clear understanding of the invention it will be assumed that the web is traveling in the. direction indicatedby the arrow for delivery into a machine of some sort or is being wound up on a reel. Naturally the side edges of the web shift laterally in one direction or the other while it is thus traveling which is objectionable for many reasons. To overcome this shifting movement according to the invention I provide a guiding apparatus represented generally by G at opposite side edges of the web. The uiders at opposite sides of the web are ali e and only one is shown in the drawing.

The guider consists in general of a pair of coacting rolls 2 and 4 for engaging opposite sides of the web at its side edges, the latter of which is movable towards and away from the former so as to engage or release the Web. The roll 2 is mounted for free rotation on a plate 6 while the roll 4 is rotatably mounted in an arm 10 pivoted for swinging movements on said plate 6. This plate 6 is adapted to support the mechanism and may itself be supported from a floor by a standard 12 fixed to a boss 14 at the rear side thereof. Preferably the plate will be disposed so as to position the rolls angularly with respect to the edge of the web as shown so that as the rolls bear on opposite sides of the web the web will tend to move upwardly with respect thereto or shift laterally and in this way be moved in one direction by the rolls of the guide shown or released thereby and moved in the opposite direction by a similar guide mechanism at the opposite side of the web.

The roll 1 is moved towards the roll 2 by means of the following. A solenoid S of ordinary construction is mounted on the plate 6 and has as usual a plunger 16 reciprocable therein, the lower end of which receives the end of a lever 18 fixed to one end of a rock shaft 20 in the plate 6. A lever 22 is fixed to the other end of the rock shaft 20 and has its end connected by a link 24 to the lower end of the lever 10. In the position shown the plunger 16 is being acted upon by the solenoid and the parts are arranged so that in this position' the roll 4 engages the web between it and the roll 2.

As before stated the solenoid is of common form and as usual may be energized for its pulling action by delivering an electrical current thereto. off the plunger is free to drop so that the roll 4 may fall away from the roll 2.

A feeler F pivoted at 24 to the plate for swinging movements in a plane transverse to the direction of movement of the web is arranged to be engaged by the edge of the web as shown in Fig. 2. An extension 26 provided on the feeler has fixed thereto contact members 28 which are adapted to engage other contacts 30. The contacts 28 are suit- As the flow of current is cut 0 the edge of the web. The parts will be so adjusted that when the edge of the web runs to the right of a predetermined location the feeler will be allowed to swing to en age the contacts 28 and 30. With these close the solenoid is energized and the roll 4 moved towards the roll 2 so that the web is engaged therebetween. By being enga ed between the rolls there is as before state a tendency for the web to move upwardly of the rolls and laterallylof its direction of travel and according to t e adjustment of the arts the feeler which is moved by the web wi l disengage the contacts so that the solenoid is no longer energiaed in which case the roll 4 falls away from the roll 2.

In this way as the edge of the web moves to the right the feeler moves to ener 'ze the solenoid so that the rolls engage t e web which then moves relative to the rolls to the left until the feeler breaks the electrical connection. B locating guidin mechanism-on o posite si es of the web an by arranging t 0 parts for the pur ose the guiders ma function to engage an move the web latera ly in one direction or the other whenever it runs out of ali ent.

In lieu of t e solenoid shown it may be desired to provide a magnet or magnets or the like for moving the roll and lever towards the non-movable roll, the current supply to said magnet being controlled by a suitable switching device under the influence of the feeler.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the form of the device without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I prefer therefore to be limited by the appended claims rather than by the fofiing description.

t claim is:

1. Guiding apparatus for a traveling web of material, a support a roll pivoted thereon side of a web rotatable thereon, a roll lever pivoted on said an port having a roll rotatable in the free en thereof for engaging the other side of a web and pressin it against the first-named roll, an oscillata 1e shaft in said support, an operating lever on said shaft connected to said roll lever, an electrically operated device connected to said shaft for operating the same, a lever pivoted on sup ort for g the side edge of a web and being mova le thereby and switch elements carried by said sup rt and lever engaged and by ative movements thereof. 2. mding apparatus for a traveling web 2f material, a support, a roll pivoted thereon or ver pivote on said support can-yin a rotatable roll for bearing on an inner ace of a web and pressing said web a inst said first-named roll, a shaft oscillate Is in said sup rt, an electrical device having a reciproca le member, a lever on said shaft connected to said member, a second lever on said shaft connected to said roll lever, a feeler givoted on said support on an axis oppose to those of said rolls having a part for engaging the side edge of a web, and switch mechanism carried by said feeler and support which opened and closed as the feeler swings back and forth. JOHN HERBERT HAMILTON.

an outer face of a web, a roll le- 

